Roger Federer is enjoying life in the fast lane in Brisbane as he laps up the type of speedy playing surface he has been advocating for years.

But how well it prepares him for the more-sluggish Australian Open venues remains to be seen, although the world number six said he always preferred to go from fast to slow, rather than be ambushed with a lightning surface at the start of a major tournament.

The top seed began his summer with a crisp 6-4 6-2 victory over Finnish journeyman Jarkko Nieminen on Pat Rafter Arena on Wednesday night and was quick to praise the slick courts, which amplify his natural attacking game and ability to end points as early as possible.

It was more than enough to keep good friend and tour veteran Nieminen reaching, with Federer warming into the contest on the back of nine aces and pinpoint power from the baseline.

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The Swiss great has long been an outspoken supporter of faster playing surfaces in an era where many of the hard courts have been tamed, greatly aiding the defence of some of Federer’s greatest rivals.

Federer remains a fundamentally aggressive player and while slower courts make for longer rallies – pleasing fans and organisers – he’s come to believe the balance of power has been shifted too far in favour of noted scramblers like Novak Djokovic, who return the previously unreturnable.

“It’s an easy fix. Just make quicker courts, then it’s hard to defend," Federer said after a loss to Djokovic in the ATP finals in London two years ago. “Attacking style is more important. It’s only on this type of slow courts that you can defend the way we are all doing right now.”

Brisbane seems to get his tick of approval, with Federer just one of the players noting the relative increase in pace on the plexicushion courts that have been baking in the Queensland heatwave.

Melbourne Park is played on the same surface but it tends to be notably slower. Federer won three of his four Australian Open titles on the faster Rebound Ace surface before it was controversially replaced in 2008.

“It depends how Melbourne is going to be playing but I prefer to go from fast to slower because then you usually return better,” Federer said on Wednesday night.

“I like it a bit faster, to be honest. It’s just nice when the slider drags a bit or the slice stays a bit lower and guys don’t just eat it up, even though it's a decent slice. So I think it's a good thing that it’s a bit faster here.”

The pace of the surface will certainly play into Federer’s hands in Brisbane, where he is the top seed and hot favourite to collect the title in his maiden appearance.

At 32 and coming off his first season since 2002 where he didn’t add to his exorbitant tally of 17 Grand Slams, Federer is seeking every advantage he can get as he tries to stay in touch with the new group of faces now dominating the men’s game.

Quicker surfaces would help, as may new coach Stefan Edberg, the Swedish serve-and-volley ace who will join his coaching staff in Mebourne after spending time in Federer’s camp in Dubai.

After a six-week break – a long one for Federer – the early signs were promising. He was pleased with his matter-of-fact disposal of Nieminen, a win that sets up a quarter-final with Australian Marinko Matosevic, who defeated American Sam Querrey earlier in the day.

The key facets of his game, the serve, the forehand, the net play, appear to be in good working order as he takes another step towards the opening Slam of the year.

“Tonight you come out of it and think, ‘OK, I’ve been serving OK, my forehand is going well, my movement is OK, I’m seeing the ball OK, I’m getting used to the conditions’,” Federer said.

“I expect myself to play a bit better in the next match, even though today was already very good for a first match in so many weeks, to be honest, and against Nieminen who can play very good tennis.”

In the other result late on Wednesday night, women’s second seed and world number two Victoria Azarenka had an easy time of things against Australia’s Casey Dellacqua, advancing after a 6-3 6-1 victory.

4 comments so far

Purchased 5 tickets two months ago for the family to see the action at the Brisbane International tonight. Whilst seeing the great Roger Federer was always simply going to be the luck of the draw, was very disappointed with the release of the schedule showing that the two marquee matches for this evening are Azerenka against Voegele, and Anderson against Groth. Whilst these players are no doubt terrific athletes, this is an ordinary line-up in the context of the big name appearances that this event has promoted, in particular given the day session features Williams, Sharapova, and Hewitt in singles, and Federer in the doubles. Any one of those matches at night would have been a bigger draw. Can only assume that channel 7 didn't need a big line up from Brisbane tonight because Australia is playing in the Hopman Cup tonight...... Sad, but probably true.

Commenter

Disappointed

Location

Brisbane

Date and time

January 02, 2014, 8:31AM

There has been a lot of anger over the scheduling. Top 10 stars, Jankovic & Kerber have played all of their matches on outside courts, so Australians ranked outside the top 50 (and in the case of Groth, outside the top 150), can play on Pat Rafter Arena. I've had front-row tickets for 7 sessions, and during day sessions have spent half the day watching matches on outside courts. I know a fair few others have as well.

Commenter

Anthony

Location

Logan

Date and time

January 02, 2014, 10:25AM

Agreed. Although I can understand Aussies getting to play on PRA most of the time, there is no way known that Groth vs. Anderson should be on Pat Rafter Arena tonight - absolutely disgraceful scheduling. I had tix for the night session but won't be using them. Luckily I got a restricted view ticket for the day session which, as you note, is stacked with superstars. Considering there are 4 matches scheduled, I wouldn't be surprised if it runs overtime and the night session is delayed. Surely moving Hewitt vs Lopez to the night session and having the Groth vs Anderson match on an outside court would be much more favourable. Nobody wants to watch a 90 minute serving contest - Aussie player or otherwise.

Commenter

Orca

Date and time

January 02, 2014, 12:23PM

Totally agree with you both. I had great seats in Monday and Tuesdays night session. It was nice to see Sharapova but Tuesday night's line up was atrocious. No balance at all. I understand that having some Australians in the main arena lends a bit of excitement for a lot of people, and I thought the Hewitt/Kokkinakis game was a good one (thanks mainly to Kokkinakis). However, THEN also adding yet another Australian in the main arena, one ranked 170th in the world, was an insult when Kanepi, winner (.....WINNER!) of the Brisbane International women's singles in 2012, played Carla Suarez Navarro outside. If the organisers want to keep calling it the Brisbane INTERnational they need to get a bit more balance (and class).

That said, it makes buying ground passes really good value for those who are actually interested in the players regardless of nationality so maybe that's a good thing.